AuthorTopic: Hopefully getting two MP-2s today (Read 4432 times)

Well, I'm pretty excited! I should hopefully be getting two MP-2s today for $200.00. One is supposed to be fully functional, the other is being thrown in as a source of spare parts, but I'm hoping that getting it going will be something relatively simple once I look at the schematics and pester MJMP if I get stuck.

Excited to see what they sound like when I get home.

I have no idea if this is a good price, but the guy is somewhat local so I can drive there and check out the working one.

I couldn't sleep the other night, so just to kill time I went to the local Craigslist and looked at some guitars I could never afford, and then I searched for ADA and these MP2s popped up. I really wasn't looking for one, just idle sleepless curiosity. But it sounds like I lucked out.

And, I think my luck might be turning, because I got the second one to work by just reseating the cables on the secondary of the power transformer -- and the "broken" one sounds better than the one that "works".

They are running different firmware revisions, 1.3x and 1.4x, too tired to write them down tonight.

There's still some wierdness in some patches on both, which might be normal for the MP2, I don't know. But this weekend I'm gonna reseat all the internal cables and socketed op-amps, clean connectors, etc., and see where they stand.

Hopefully, the power supply connector in the "broken" one isn't an intermittent crimp something similar. But I'm pretty stoked!!

Just a quick question to all: are tubes sensitive to finger oils like some halogen lights are? In other words, can you yank tubes with bare hands without worrying that your skin oil, when heated, could break the glass? Sorry if this is a silly question, but my experience is solid-state stuff.

Thanks for all the encouragement, means a lot to me, and I've really been enjoying this forum.

Hey gtmm, what a score !! welcome to MP2 heaven very good price, these were $2.5k AUD new here when they came out.I don't think tubes are quite as susceptible to finger oil issues as light bulbs, but the principal is the same, the oil left on the glass heats up etc so I always wipe the tubes down as well as I can (e.g. guitar cloth).

Yeah, it is awesome, and now that I know it was an extremely fair price it makes it even sweeter!

rnolan,

The MP-2 does seem extremely capable, very different sounding from the MP-1, but this was just scrolling through the factory patches on the MP-2 real quickly last night. Seems there is much more gain available in the MP-2. I do like the sound though. Can't wait to start setting up my own which won't be until Sunday. I'll download your patch info also and try them out.

MarshallJMP,

It is firmware 1.33 and 1.41. Supposedly, the "working" one had three mods done to it, and I need to contact the seller, who was the second owner, and ask again what they were. It was a sixteen hour day yesterday getting these and by the time I got home I had forgotten what he told me.

Thanks for your generosity in letting me know I can contact you -- that is awesome!

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The seller was kind enough to let me check out the compressor, wah, and gate on the "working" one before I bought it, so I know these work on the 1.41 version. They also appear to work on the 1.33 version once I got that working, so all seems well so far.

If anyone runs across a deal where the piece of gear is in the San Francisco Bay Area and you live someplace else, and you'd like some help verifying whatever, or even picking it up and shipping it, let me know; I would be glad to help. And, no, I won't buy it out from under you -- promise.

Great Find! I am very close to you (in Sacramento) and the Bay is a great place to find ADA stuff (they were based in Emeryville). The MP-2 has gobs of gain, I would agree with your assessment, more than an MP-1. However, you may find yourself going a bit overboard and getting an over processed sound that doesn't cut through the mix (trust me, I know what I'm talking about).

That said, I think the versatility of the unit is unmatched. If you play around enough, you can get some gains that do more than one thing for you (like a good crunch rhythm and still able to scream on leads). The EQ is pretty key too - you'd be surprised what happens when you boost one signal and cut the one right next to it. I'm happy to share patches, but realize that everybody's gear (including guitars, amps, cabs) behaves differently.

I still like my old MP1 but I've been an Mp2 convert for many years now, although I find I'm backing off the gain (getting old lol). You'll find that you need to use the gate/NR on the higher gain voices (I used the fade setting), but if like me, you go for the middle (warm vintage) you don't need it and the sound can ring on (and still plenty of gain). If you want it to track your every move on the guitar (right and left hand), try some long Plate Mullard reissues, heaven on a stick....

Hey, nice to know you're close enough to bum some beers from! Though I really prefer Orval Trappist Ale from MarshallJMP's neck of woods.

Yeah, I remember ADA being in Emeryville, they also had a service location in the San Leandro area in the early '90s. I had to take my MP-1 there when I lived in SF to get it repaired. Even though the unit was out of warranty, they fixed it up and upgraded the firmware while I hung out and they didn't charge a thing. They were a great company.

I can see (hear) where one could get carried away with gain on the MP-2 and having a sound that doesn't cut through. But I really like the MP-2 so far. I'm not used to real high gain guitar setups, but it's lots of fun through headphones!!

I'm still just modifying the factory patches temporarily, seeing how they're set up, etc. It's the nine-band graphic EQ that made me curious about the MP-2, and it works better than I expected. That's the only thing about the MP-1 I don't like, the EQ. Not the sound, but with only 2dB steps it just isn't enough control (hence the AudioArts 4100). The gate and compressor in the MP-2 work better than I expected also. Overall, I'm pretty impressed, it seems very capable.

After I get some more time with the unit I'll check out your patches on the MP-2 patch thread, and if I have any I think are decent I'll return the favor!!

rnolan,

Going through the different voicings, the "warm vintage" is something I like a lot. Nice texture to the sound. I've been playing with the fader mode of the NR and don't quite have it yet, but I'm just modifying presets right now (and just enjoying playing again) so that doesn't surprise me. Won't have the time to really experiment until Sunday.

I'll definitely be checking out some of your patches on the MP-2 patch thread also, and thanks for posting them.